Acme – where the secretaries are car-washed, corporate espionage has double agents, and throwing sickies can save your job.

Written in an over-the-top style, I had high hopes for this book from the moment the secretaries discovered the “disinfecting process” on hire. Sadly after this, it tails off slightly. The problems are still funny, but things like the office pest and food thief are a little too close to normal – some are actually rather tamer than experiences I’ve actually had in employment, and I think many people would have the same issue.

It is still a funny read, enjoyable even if, as you would expect from a humour book, it doesn’t have much weight. The problem for older readers is that the humour of the shocking or unexpected fades when it provokes jaded nods instead of disbelieving giggles.

Entertaining, funny, and far too recognisable, this is a good way to pass a lunch hour or two.